Key holder



Dec.r l2, 1950 K. A. VALENTINE 2,534,151

KEY HOLDER Filed Dee. 7, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 1 @www 1. @Zw/far@ Dec. 12, 195.0 K. A. VALENTINE KEY HOLDER Filed Dec. '7,` 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @WQ/9m Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFCE KEY HOLDER Kenneth A. Valentine, Mesilla Park, N. Mex.

Application December 7, 1945, Serial No. 633,424

(Cl. l- 456) 15 Claims. l.

This invention relates to key holders designed to be carried in the pocket or handbag and to house'a plurality of keys for individual and con- Venient manipulation without detachment from the holder.

It is the primary object or the present inven tion to devise a supporting structure embodying a single rod or its equivalent for interconnection with a plurality of keys in such manner that the keys may lie compactly in contiguous lateral relationship, in parallelism, with each arranged at an oblique angle to the rod and its supporting means.

It is another maior object to provide a key carrier in which the keys are maintained substantially in parallelism between two side members, which include a single suspension member for the group of keys and which permit ready voluntary detachment of any one or all of the keys.

A further important object resides inthe pro- Vision of a key carrier embodying an elongated element designed to loosely through the key handles, and; a related element so disposed as to engage the edges of said handles and urge them lat-rally into; inclination withrespect to said elongatodelement, while permitting each key to be swung individually relative to the others.

There are other objects comprising details of construction of the key supporting means, their relationship toA each other and their relationship to a retaining cover or housing. These and the foregoing objects should become clearly apparent after a study oi the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a face View of a preferred form of my invention, completely assembled and with keys shown in place, the cover being opened to pern mit individual key oscillation;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 represents a section taken approximately along the plane of line 3 3, Fig. 2 hut showing a single key, for clearness of illustration;

Fig. 3a is a view similar to Fig. 3 hut showing a modied form of key suspension har;

Fig. 4 is a face view of the same embodiment, detached from the cover and with keys and their supporting bar removed;

Fig. 5 is a iront elevational view of the supporting bar seen in Figs. 1-3;

Fig. 6 is a top plane view of the element of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 shows a top plane of the device of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 is aface viewof a second embodiment of my invention, detached from the cover and with keys removed;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the unit seen in Fig. 8;

Fig. l0 is a front elevational View oi one of` the component parts of Figs. 8- and 9;

Fig. ll is a frontal view of the other component part, complemental` to that of 10;

Fig. l2 represents a section taken substantially on the plane of line l2-i2, Fig. 8;

Fig. 13 represents a section taken approximately along the line l-li, Fig. 8;

Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but showing a thirdv embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 15 is a face view of a detached unit of the combination seen in Fig. 14; i

Fig. 16 is a face view of the other separated unit of the combination shown in Fig. 14;

Fig. 17 is a top plan view of the combination seen in Fig. 14;

Fig. 13 represents a detail section taken along the plane of line Vil-lt, Fig. 14;

19 represents another detail section taken on the line 59-19, Fig. 14; and

Fig. 2O is a section taken substantially upon the plane of the line 2dr-2i?, Fig. 1d.

With continued reference to the drawings, and with particular reference first to Figs. 1 to 7, there is shown a ilexihle housing sheet of leather or like material 2l, foldahle on the lines 22 and including an end tab rlhis tab 223 has an attached fastening element 26, for cooperation with a complemental element to hold the sheet in the form of a housing when it is folded around the keys and thestructure, about to be described.

A group oi keys, designated in entirety oy the numeralZ, and each of conventional cornprising a head or handle having aperture, as shown, is carried by a substantially rigid -frame- .ate 2l' that has integral ing the group of keys. These wings are bent into paralle at an obligue angle preferably acute-to the plate 2l, and have their ends rounded and so disposed as not to extend 1oeyond the edges of the housing sheet 2i. The plate secured as, for examplel by rivets to the sheet 2i, these rivets also serving to attach a second and smaller plate 3i. rhe latter is bent rearwardly to form a spring element 32 that thrusts the sheet 2l rearwardly and also urges the key handles forwardly so that the keys tend to assume a properly inolined position..

The tops of the wings 28, are slotted at 33, and

intermediate their ends are provided with holes Sil. A bar 35 nts into the slots 33, and has legs 35 extending downwardly and bent inwardly to provide elements for reception by the holes 3d. These legs 5S are inclined to the saine degree as the wings 28 so as to rit closely against the outer sides thereof. The bar 35, upon which the keys are carried, preferably is at and rectangular in cross section as shown in Fig. 3, or approximately elliptical as shown at 35a in Fig. 3a; but it may be of any shape that will permit the keys to assume the illustrated angle or" tilt and to swing, individually, upwardly from the others into position for insertion in a lock.

The manner or addition and removal of keys should now be fairly obvious. By springing the legs 3E apart, the bar 35 can be removed from the framework. Key handles can be slid over the legs "le onto the bar, and likewise readily removed, and the bar can thereafter be replaced by snapping the elements into the holes te.

Figs. S to show two further embodiments in which the housing sheet 2i and the group of keys are omitted tor simplicity of illustration.

rlhe forro shown in Figs. 8 to 13 comprises a acking plate :il having a spring member (l2 (corresponding to the element 32 of Fig. e) riveted or otherwise attached. thereto. The plate fil has an integral inclined wing t3 with its outer edge bent baclnvardly as shown, tor a purpose presently perceivable. The plate also has an integral and correspondingly inclined shorter wing fill, bent at its outer edge, at l5 to form a channel.

second elongated wing fst, complementari to the lli?, is vertically slidable downwardly into the channel inst described, and it may have a cut-cut tongue dl designed to enhance the frictional fit. The latter is preferably bent outwardly to form a stop member #it engageable with the lower edge of the wing to releasably hold the wingfrom upward movement. The wing i6 also carries, as a unit, a small plate 5d welded or otherwise secured to its outer side, this plate having an integral bar 5l corresponding to the bar or Figs. l, 2, 3, 5 and 6. rihe bar 5i may extend through a suitable hole in the wing 5.15, or it may be moved into position through a rearwardly extending slot.

The bar 5l has a leg twisted relative thereto to place it in parallelism with the wing fili, and at its lower end the leghas a horizontal extension 53 in the saine plane, terminating in a forwardly bent portion 5d that is complemental to a slot 55 in the wing fit.

After Stringing keys over the leg 52 and onto the bar Eil (see the unit of Fig. ll), the unit oi Fig. ll is pushed downwardly into the unit of Fig. l0 to form the complete assembly of Figs. 8 and 9. At the time the member d5 engages the stop fl, the bent portion lill into the slot To separate parts, portion tl is pushed out of the slot the stop member s?, raised, and the units of Figs. lo and il are pulled apart.

nient o lto 2O diiers chieily from that j it described in that there are two units which are separable laterally instead of vertically. In this embodiment there is an inclined 'ving 5l, generally similar to wing d6 of Fig. 1l, having an attached plate with an integral bar corresponding to the bars and 5i previously described. The oar til terminates in a slightly bent latching tab 6l.

integral with, or secured to the wing 5l in any suitable manner is a plate S2, corresponding to the plates 2l and si. This plate has its upper and lower edges bent over at 63 in the saine direction to provide a horizontal guide and slideway for a purpose presently apparent. A spring plate til, corresponding to plates 32 and lill, is 5 riveted or otherwise attached to the upper rear surface of the plate G2.

Complement-al to the unit of Fig. 16 is the unit or" Fig. l5, comprising a second wing t5 which has an integral offset plate F having a cut-Out forming a tongue 5l, the latter being bent laterally as shown (Fig. 19) for latching cooperation with a slot @8 in the plate B2. As seen in Figs. le and 18, the tab 6l is designed to yieldingly latch into a slot lo in the upper end of the wing 55.

The modus operandi of this third form of my invention is believed to be fairly evident. The cross bar 5o carries the keys, which are added to the unit seen in Fig. 16. This unit then is detachably united to that of Fig. 15 by pushing them together, laterally and edgewise, until the elements Eil and ill latch, respectively, into the slots ld and SS. Removal of the keys is accomplished in reverse fashion.

Since, in all ci the embodiments of the invention shown and described, the wings project up rfardly 1fronti the basal part, an opening or space provided above the basal part which permits the handle parts oi the keys to project rearwardly beyond the plane of the basal part and to come into direct contact with the cover or housing oi the holder, thus enabling the total thickness of the entire holder to he determined by the keys and cover alone.

o Also, in all embodiments of the invention as shown described, the key suspension meinber is disposed or near the upper extremities of the wings or lateral supporting members. Such a disposition of this element of the holder has the advantage that it permits the keys themselves to be suspended at the uppermost point in the holder so that the total length of the holder need be only long enough to accommodate the contained keys.

The present invention further provides a ke holder in which the key retaining elernent and its srogorting elements hold the keys in a ccn- "guous overlappirn1r relation so that the total .fldth of the holder and the contained keys is by the distance between the su There obviously are many ways in which the present invention nay be modified, in details as ell as general assembly, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and such inodications intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A key holder comprising a backing mein having a pair or" spaced, rigid parallel wings ri with and arranged at an oblique angle to said member and spaced apart to corinne a plurality of keys between them, and an elongated suspension clement connected between said w figs.

A key Leider comprising a backing member having a pair oi spaced, parallel wings arranged at an oblique angle to said backing member and spaced apart to confine a purality of between them, and an elongated key suspension element connected between said wings, said suspension element eing shaped to pass readily 75 through the apertured handles of a plurality of designed to receive a plurality of apertured key i handles, and means associated with said bar and said wings -to permit convenient addition and replacement of the keys.

4. "in a keyholder, the combination of a key supporting framework comprising a .dat plate having a pair oi rigid parallel wings connected to and projecting from one side thereof and inclined at an approximately acute angle to plate, and a cross bar removably connected to said wings and shaped to loosely carry a plurality of apertured keys.

5. 1n a keyholder, the combination of a key supporting framework comprising a flat plate having a pair of rigid parallel wings projecting from one side thereof and inclined at an approximately acute angle to said plate, and a cross bar removably connected to said wings and shaped to loosely carry a plurality of apertured keys, said cross bar being flattened on its horizontal dimension, said wings having slots in their adjacent opposed ends for reception of the ends of said bar, said bar having extensions bent flatwise and lying against surfaces of said wings, and said wings and said extensions having complemental means for releasably latching them together.

6. In a key holder, the combination of a framework comp-rising a plate carrying a wing arranged at an angle thereto, a second complemental wing carrying a cross member designed for detachable connection with the rst mentioned wing, and shaped to suspend a plurality of apertured keys, and coacting slidably engageable means on said plate and said second wing for releasably holding said plate and said second wing in united relationship to form said framework.

7. The combination defined in claim 6, wherein said wings in the assembled framework are in parallelism and disposed at an oblique angle to said plate.

8. A key holder comprising a basal part, a pair of rigidprojections spaced laterally and extending rigidly upwardly from said basal part and lying in parallel planes at acute angles to the plane of the basal part, and a key suspension member extending between the upper portions of said projections and having a cross-section which is lesser on its horizontal diameter. than on its vertical diameter to extend through holes in the key handles and support the keys .while they lie r between said projections and at an acute angle to the plane of the basal part.

upper edge of said basal part, said projections being bent forwardly from said basal part, a kei'- suspension member extending between said projections above said basal part to loosely receive apertured handle parts of keys and to support the latter with their handle parts extending rearwardly above the basal part, and a yieldable element secured to the basal part and extending upwardly beyond the upper edge thereof and engageable directly with said rearwardly extending handle parts of the keys to urge the keys to an acute angle relatively to said key-suspension member.

l1. A key holder comprising a basal part, a

of rigid supporting elements extending upwardly therefrom at the extreme opposite sides thereof and projecting rigidly forwardly from said basal part in planes at an acute angle to the plane thereof, and a key retaining element extending between and connecting said supporting elements for suspending keys while held in overlapping relation by said supporting elements.

i2. A key holder comprising a basal part having a wing rigidly united therewith and extending forwardly from one lateral edge thereof at an acute angle thereto, a second part carrying a vving complemental to the wing on the basal part, a key suspension member carried by said second and slidably engageable means on said parts for guiding them for relative vertical movement to To ng the .key suspension member into cooperative relation with the wing on the basal part.

13. A key holder according to claim ,12, including a stop member on one of said parts engageable with the other of said parts to detachably retain said parts in cooperative relation.

14. In a key holder the combination of a framework comprising a plate having at wing rigidly united thereto and arranged at an angle thereto, an elongated key-suspending element connected in perpendicularity to said wing, a second wing having an integral extension designed to slide edgewise and laterally into connection with said plate, and means on said second wing for detachably receiving the free end of say key-suspending element.

15. The combination defined in claim 14, wherein said wings are parallel, and inclined obliquely to said plate and said extension to provide lateral confining surfaces for any group of keys carried by said element.

KENNETH A. VALENTINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,779,621 Moore Oct. 28, 1930 1,800,064 C-etts Apr. 7, 1931 1,849,080 Embree Mar. l5, 1932 2,003,553 Root June 4, 1935 2,076,895 Johnston Apr. 13, 1937 2,198,110 l Fischer Apr. 23, 1940 2,274,329 Bills Mar. 3, 1942 2,295,123 Mudrich Sept. 8, 1942 

